Thanks for the suggestion.You'd still need something horizontal that will hold the bikes, and if you're like me you own bikes of all different sizes. Two stands at say 12 inches apart may work for one kind of bike on the rack but may not work on a smaller bike on the same rack. This design gives you "customizable" sizes to hold all bikes on the same rack, big or small. Also the Ikea Stolmen Post is by far the most expensive part in this design at $30. That's three times the amount of a 1/2 inch square pipe.